Backpacking in Marble Mountain Wilderness




We drove to far northern California, then began a 4 day loop - first stop was mirror-like Campbell Lake. 




A blue dragonfly perched on my yellow shirt, near green ferns.




Taking a break on the logs that jam the outlet of Cliff Lake.





A butterfly with slightly torn wings looks for a meal in an orange flower.




Hiking along a high trail, an endless series of ridges took on shades of blue in the distant haze.




We saw five bears on the trip, but this was the best picture I could manage.  I was about 30 feet from this bear when he noticed us, bolted up a tree, then came down and ran off.




We followed the sound of rushing water around Little Elk Lake to this spot.




Wildflowers were plentiful along our trek.




At Deep Lake, we camped on an elevated peninsula with nice views.




We hiked uphill to Lower Wright Lake (background), then up further toward the upper lake, passing a horticulture class studying the diversity of wildflowers.




The highest point of our trip, this ridge above Upper Wrights Lake offered views of Mt. Shasta (look between our heads).




A hummingbird surprised Amanda with its persistent interest in her red backpack.




The hummingbird sticks its bill under the flap of the backpack, looking for nectar.




Chipmunk on a rock.  They seemed to think they couldn't be seen if they held still.




This faceoff in Big Meadows ended with the cows trotting away.  But later, a herd of 30-40 cows stood their ground, and even started to charge us.  I yelled and got them to pause, then took a chance and charged them.  Luckily, they all turned around and ran off.  Unfortunately, cow trails had obscured the real trail, so we ended up getting out by descending 2000 ft off-trail along a steep wooded hillside.  It worked - at the valley floor, we ended up just 10 minutes from the car.